Forever and Always
by The Faded Guardian
Summary: After Catalina has lost everything, she comes across an orphanage where she is extremely unhappy. then she meets Axel. Will the two find a better place to call home or maybe they fall in love. AxelOC. COMPLETE!
1. The Hunted

**Part 1: The Hunted**

_Catalina- 11, Axel- 13_

I woke up and rubbed my eyes. I glanced at my watch, the date read July 14th. The day I lost everything, including my parents. I pulled the covers over my head refusing to get up. Shall I tell you what happened? Yes? Okay, I will.

It was my 10th birthday and my friends were going to take me to the movies. My parents dropped me off in front of the theater and left to prepare for my party at home. After the movie, I took out my cell phone and called my mom to have her come pick me up. Then, I got that stupid phone message that goes: "that number is no longer active. Please hang up and try again." I figured I had misdialed. So I hung up and tried again. I dialed again and this time made sure it was right and I got the same message again! Now I was worried, and before anyone could stop me, I was racing home. When I reached it, my house was in ruins. It had been burned to the ground, and my parents lied on the ground, smothered by smoke that still hung in the air. I looked around to see if whoever had done this was still there, but all I saw was a person in a hooded black robe. After some weeks of wandering, I finally found this orphanage. Yes, this shithole of an orphanage.

It's been a year since that happened, and I doubt any of my old friends remember me. Oh well, I guess what's done is done. I went to get up when someone with spiky red hair appeared at my side. "Hi!" he said cheerfully, "what's your name?"

I tired to smile, but couldn't so I just replied, "I'm Catalina. Who are you?"

"I'm Axel. Are you okay Cat? You don't mind if I call you that do you?" He asked. I burst out crying because Cat was what my mom and dad used to calling. "Omigawd!" He cried, "I'm sorry!"

I shook my head. "No," I said, sniffling, "it's just, that's what my parents called me."

"Oh." He said. "I'm sorry. What happened to your parents?" I suddenly found myself telling him what I had told no one else before. When I finished my story, he stood there in shock. "I'm sorry," I told him. "I really should be going. The next thing I knew, Axel had wrapped me into a hug. "Ummm, why are you hugging me?" I asked, now sort of scared.

"Because you need a hug." He said. "You've been through so much. Now c'mon, let's go get something to eat."

He dragged me off to the breakfast hall and told me to wait at a table while he got some cereal. Okay, I know I'm only 11, but I think I'm in love. He came back and put a bowl of cereal in front of me and said, "Bon appetite!" with a terrible accent that made me laugh. Then he asked, "Is there anything else you want to tell me Cat?" _You mean besides the fact that I love you to pieces?_ I thought to myself. "Well, I think that the guy or guys that burned my house wanted me or something I have." I told him as I took a bite of my cereal.

"Hmm," he said considering what I had said. "You may be right, but why would they want you?"

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" I demanded.

He laughed, and replied, "Nothing, nothing at all. But seriously, why?" I shrugged and spooned more cereal into my mouth. "Well whatever. I'm leaving this hellhole. Ya wanna come with?" Axel asked.

"Why me?" I asked.

"Because you're my best friend!" he replied, hugging me again.

I blushed, and then said, "If I'm YOUR best friend, then it goes both ways." I don't know what made me do it, but I plopped a kiss on his cheek and whispered, "Wake me up when you're ready to go." I walked out of the hall leaving a confused and blushing Axel staring at his cereal.

**Aww... it's love at first sight I tells ya! Don't forget to review!**


	2. The Run

**Part 2: The Run**

I was woken up at midnight. "Cat," Axel whispered to me, "time to go." I dragged myself out of bed and groped around for the bedside table where I kept the necklace my mother gave me before she died. "Hurry!" Axel urged me. I slipped on the necklace, grabbed Axel's hand and leapt out the window to begin our run.

After about two hours of running, I had begun to feel weak and tired, but I had kept going for Axel. We didn't really know where we were going, but Axel wanted a place where I would be safe from whoever was maybe tracking me, and I wanted a place where Axel and I could be together.

Fifteen minutes later, it began to rain. I caught up with Axel and said, "I think the world is against us."

He laughed and replied, "Well, c'mon! We might find our new home soon." I ran after him, but was stopped because I felt sick.

"Axel!" I called, "I don't feel go—" I was cut off by barf and blood spilling out of my mouth. He ran over and told me, "You need to rest. We'll continue tomorrow."

I shook my head. "N-no. W-we ha-have to get there soon." I said through chattering teeth. I threw up again (not on Axel!). This time it was mostly blood. Axel didn't listen to me and just led me up a hill and sat me underneath a tree. He sat down with me and took off his shirt and wrapped it around me. "thanks." I whispered.

He smiled and said, "No problem." He brushed back some wet hair from my face and kissed my forehead. He held me close and I snuggled up next to him. I knew he hadn't left my side the entire night, because anytime I sneezed or coughed, he would ask if I was all right. And each time I would always smile and nod and try to go back to sleep.

…

I woke up the next morning with the sun shining in my face. I squinted looking up, wondering _where am I?_ Then I saw Axel's face in front of me. "Good morning! Sleep well Cat?" he asked. Then the previous night's events came back to me, and I remembered what happened. I sat up against the tree. "Uh- huh." I replied, still sleepy. "Did I sleep long?"

He shook his head, "no, probably about two or three hours at most."

"Oh," then I noticed his shirt was still wrapped around me. I took it off and held it out to him saying, "I don't need it anymore. You should put it on before you freeze."

He nodded and pulled on his shirt. Then he remembered something and said, "I forgot to tell you, I saw the perfect place for us to stay!"

"Really?" I asked excitedly, "I hope they have food, I'm starving." It was true; I hadn't eaten since about 6:00 the night before.

Axel nodded in agreement, and then pointed to a castle- like building further on. "That's the place I was talking about." He told me. "Ready to go?" I felt better than I had the night before so I nodded. "Ok," he said with a mischievous smile. "I'll race you!"

"What!" I asked. Okay, I was feeling better, but a race? Come ON! "Fine" I said relentingly.

"Yay! But since you're probably not entirely better, we'll just race to the bottom of the hill." Axel told me.

"Hill?" I asked, "What hill?"

"We climbed up a hill yesterday." He replied, "You probably don't remember because you were so sick."

"Oh. Well let's get this race over with!"

"Awright! Ready? Set, GO!" We took off down the hill, teasing each other by saying how slow the other was. Then, me being a total klutz, tripped and rolled the rest of the way down the hill. Axel found me lying on my back at the bottom of the hill. He laughed and said, "I don't think that's a fair way to win, but what ever." I looked up and laughed too. "c'mon," he held out his hand and said, "We're almost there."

He helped me up then suddenly said, "Ya know what Cat?"

"What?" I asked.

He blushed then whispered, "I love you." Then I got a kiss. On the lips. We walked the rest of the way not saying a word. We didn't need to, because now we shared a bond that nothing but death itself could break.

After a half more hour of walking, we had arrived at the door of the castle. "wow." I whispered. The castle was amazing. I didn't know what else to say.

"Well," Axel said taking my hand, "here goes nothing!" We walked into our new home we would soon come to know as: Castle Oblivion.

**Yay! They found thier home AND Axel has confessed his love, all in the same chapter! Review, review, review!**


	3. The Sacrifice

**Part 3: The Sacrifice**

_Four years later… Catalina- 15, Axel- 17_

It was past noon on Saturday and I was being shaken awake by my boyfriend, Axel. "Mmrgh. What do you want?" I asked sleepily.

"Get UP!" he commanded.

"NO!" I replied stubbornly, "and why should I?" I really didn't want to get up. Axel and I had gone to a party the night before (please don't ask you seriously don't want to know), and I hadn't gotten my 12 hours of sleep.

"Because I said so and it's your birthday! How could you—never mind."

Yes my birthday. Why wasn't I excited? My parents died that day. Didn't I tell you guys that already? You need to pay attention. Anyway, I dragged myself out of bed. I must've been a hilarious sight, because Axel was laughing at me. "You're my boyfriend right?"

"Yes…" he replied, trying to see where I was going with this.

"Doesn't that mean you're supposed to love me with all of your non-existent heart?"

He finally understood and replied, "Okay, fine. I'm sorry." You're probably wondering why I said 'non-existent heart' huh? Well, since we arrived here at Castle Oblivion, Axel and I had discovered that we were known as something called 'nobodies'. We don't truly exist, but we still are. Okay! Now, back to the story! Since he had gotten me out of bed, I figured we could grab something in the food hall. "Okay. Go away and I shall met you in the food hall, 'kay?" I told him.

"Of course love. See ya in ten." He replied. I kissed him on the cheek and scooted him out of my room. I changed and washed up, then went down to food place. When I got there, I saw a cake that said, 'Happy 15th Birthday Cat!' I looked up and saw Axel and my other friends, Demyx, Larxene, and Zexion smiling at me. "Aww. Thanks guys!" I said, giving them all hugs.

"No prob." Demyx said, using my head as an arm rest.

"Yea," Larxene said, leaning on Zexion's chest. "It was mostly Axel's idea though."

"Really?" I asked, "Who knew you could cook, baby?" Everyone laughed at my joke, including Axel.

"Hey!" Axel said, pretending to be hurt. "If you're gonna be that way then… NO CAKE FOR YOU!"

"Don't deny Cat her cake." Zexion warned him, draping his arms around Larxene's shoulders. "It's bad luck."

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. Let's eat, I'm starving!"

…

After about an hour of talking and eating, Axel and I were alone again. We were sitting on a couch in my room. I was leaning against Axel resting my head on his shoulder, with my legs stretched over the rest of the cushions. He just sat up against the couch absentmindedly stroking my hair. Usually, I loved times like these, but something seemed to be troubling Axel. So I asked, "Anything wrong, Axel?"

My voice seemed to get him out of his trance because he replied, "yea, yea. I'm fine."

"This has to do with what you heard earlier doesn't it?" When we had been walking back from my little 'party', Axel had heard someone talking. He had stopped to listen, but when I tried, I hadn't heard anything. When whoever was apparently done talking, Axel pulled his ear away from the wall. He hadn't told me what he heard, but he seemed more worried then he usually would be about whoever was tracking me. Anyway, he must've heard the worry in my voice, because he just smiled and replied, "No. It's just that, well, I forgot to get you a present. Please don't hate me!"

"Oh, Axel! You don't ever need to get me a present!" I told him, on the verge of tears. "Just being with you on my birthday is a present in itself."

"Aww… thanks Cat. That means a lot to me." He hugged me tightly, squeezing the air out of my lungs.

"That's great Axel," I replied, patting him on the back. "Now please let go before I die.

He let go blushing. "Sorry," he mumbled.

"It's okay!" I told him, punching him lightly in the arm. "Now c'mon. Let's go take a walk around the yard."

We wandered out to the yard. In the halls, people wished me a happy birthday. Even that creepy Xigbar guy. He had an eye patch, and no one knew where it had come from. Then there was Xemnas. He was sort of like a dad to me. It had been he who let Axel and I live in Castle Oblivion. On our way out, Xemnas stopped us and asked, "Where are you going?"

I smiled and told him, "just out to the yard." He nodded, and then gave Axel a weird look. I looked over and saw that Axel was giving him 'the eye'. I smiled nervously and dragged Axel out to the yard.

"What was that about?" I demanded.

"What?" he asked

"THE LOOK! You were giving him the look!" I yelled.

"Sorry!" he replied defensively. "I just don't really trust Xemnas, that's all."

"Why?" I asked, concerned.

"I don't know. I just—" he stopped. I followed his eyes and saw someone who looked like the person who had burned my house. Axel summoned his chakrams and told me "hide! They might be here!" I saw a tree and scrambled up to the top and looked down. I watched as Axel ran over to the bushes where we thought we saw whoever was tracking me. He jumped over the bushes and started searching. 10 minutes later, he came back and called up to me, "don't worry! No one's there."

I nodded and jumped down from the tree. "Are you sure no one's there?" I asked, still worried.

"Don't worry. There's no one there, and if there is, I'll protect you." Axel replied hugging me. I leaned against him, patting his arm. "Now c'mon. Let's go take that walk."

We walked arm-in-arm talking about whatever popped into our heads and pointed out random things, like how that tree looked like so-and-so, or that cloud looked like this shape or that shape, and sometimes, we didn't say anything. For some reason, I felt as if someone was following me. I doubted it, so I didn't say anything to Axel to worry him. Suddenly, out of nowhere, I was tackled from behind. I yelped and fell to the ground. Then I heard Axel yell, "Xemnas! What do you want with Catalina?"

"Just to kill her and nothing more." He replied coolly.

I gasped the one person who was like a parent to me had betrayed me. "I trusted you Xemnas!" I cried. "How could you do this?"

He pointed to my necklace. "Your necklace has some very unique powers, and I can't take it unless the one who wears it is dead! How was I supposed to get it if you didn't trust me?"

A chakram whizzed by headed for Xemnas. He stepped aside making it miss him. As the chakram returned to Axel, Xemnas spoke. "I thought you could do better than that Axel." He taunted.

"I won't let you kill her!" Axel shouted at him. I watched in horror as Axel prepared to begin his powerful kamikaze attack.

"Axel! No!" I screamed. "Don't do it!"

"Would you really kill yourself just so I can't kill her?" Xemnas asked.

"I would rather DIE than see anything bad happen to her!" Axel snapped. With that, he unleashed his attack. A ring of fire surrounded their battle area, so I couldn't see what was happening, but I knew what would happen. After about 30 seconds, the ring of fire dissipated. I ran over to the charred area. On one side, Xemnas lay, motionless and fading. On the other side, Axel lie on his back. I went over to Axel and started crying. "Don't leave me Axel! Don't leave me!"

"I won't." he told me. "I'm with you, forever and always."

"But you're going to, to, fa- fade!" I stuttered.

He shook his head and said, "That's not what I meant. I meant that I'll be with you in spirit as long as you don't forget me."

I nodded and held back my tears and watched as he began to fade. It seemed like I was watching him forever. Then right before he completely faded, he whispered, "Remember, forever and always." Then, he was gone. I sat there and began to cry again. Then a song began to play in the back of my head.

_I promise you,_

_I won't forget,_

_The times we shared,_

_The tears we cried._

_You'll always be the sun in my sky._

_It may be fate,_

_That brings us back,_

_To meet again someday._

_Even though we go separate ways._

I cried harder at this part, knowing that it could never be true, and the song continued to play.

_You made me believe,_

_That I could do almost anything._

_You stood right by me,_

_Withdrew the tears through everything._

At this point, Larxene, Demyx, and Zexion found me at the same spot still crying. They helped me up and took me inside.

_I'll remember you,_

_And baby that's forever true,_

_You're the one that I'll always miss._

_Never thought it would feel like this._

_I'll be there for you,_

_No matter what you're goin' through._

_In my heart you'll always be,_

_Forever baby,_

_I'll remember you._

The song finally stopped taunting me. _How ironic that the song should use 'heart' when I have none,_ I thought to myself. My three friends kept asking what happened and where Axel was. I took a breath and told myself not to cry, that Axel would want me to be strong, and told them what happened.

-**FIN!-**

**Didn't I tell you guys it was gonna be sad? Please don't hate me. Reviews make me feel better.**


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